Monday, August 18, 2008

Obama is a Racist

Against blacks. Conservative blacks, of course. It has long been allowed to denigrate conservative blacks along the lines of 19th-century stereotypes; the unspoken logic is that their choice of conservatism is such a heresy that they do not deserve the protections of political correctness.

OBAMA: That’s a good one. That’s a good one. I would not have nominated Clarence Thomas. I don’t think that he - I don’t think that he was as strong enough jurist or legal thinker at the time for that elevation, setting aside the fact that I profoundly disagree with his interpretations of a lot of the Constitution. I would not nominate Justice Scalia, although I don’t think there’s any doubt about his intellectual brilliance, because he and I just disagree. He taught at the University of Chicago, as did I in the law school.

So Scalia - who joins more of Thomas' opinions than vice-versa - is unquestionably brilliant, but Thomas is - emphatically - not. And that's not racism?

Meanwhile, as he bids to be America's Commander in Chief, Mr. Obama isn't yet four years out of the Illinois state Senate, has never held a hearing of note of his U.S. Senate subcommittee, and had an unremarkable record as both a "community organizer" and law school lecturer. Justice Thomas's judicial credentials compare favorably to Mr. Obama's Presidential résumé by any measure. And when it comes to rising from difficult circumstances, Justice Thomas's rural Georgian upbringing makes Mr. Obama's story look like easy street.

Even more troubling is what the Illinois Democrat's answer betrays about his political habits of mind. Asked a question he didn't expect at a rare unscripted event, the rookie candidate didn't merely say he disagreed with Justice Thomas. Instead, he instinctively reverted to the leftwing cliché that the Court's black conservative isn't up to the job while his white conservative colleagues are.

So much for civility in politics and bringing people together. And no wonder Mr. Obama's advisers have refused invitations for more such open forums, preferring to keep him in front of a teleprompter, where he won't let slip what he really believes.

When I write, by the way, that "Obama is a racist", I'm mostly kidding. When I say he's apparently willing to use racially charged insults against conservative blacks, I'm not kidding at all. That isn't funny.